China box office tops $1 billion in February, propelled by ‘The Mermaid’
A mermaid, a panda and a monkey king helped China rack up more than $1 billion in movie ticket sales in February, outpacing the United States for the second year running.
February is prime movie-going season in China with the nation marking the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival holiday. Last year, China’s February box office tally of $650 million edged out the U.S. total by about $10 million. Despite the success of “Deadpool” stateside (the film has not been shown in China), China’s February receipts are expected to outpace those of the United States by several hundred million dollars.
Lunar New Year holdover “The Monkey King 2" claimed the No. 2 spot last week with $19 million, besting the Weinstein Co.'s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2,” which added $15 million to its take for a cumulative gross of $36.1 million.
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In fourth place for the seven days ending Sunday was “The Man from Macau III,” the third installment in the casino caper series.
“Kung Fu Panda 3" has sold $128.5 million of tickets so far in the United States and Canada, according to comScore.
Follow @JulieMakLAT on Twitter for news from China.
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